I'm getting ready to fabricate a winch bumper out of a combination of 6061-T6 and 5052 aluminum plate. 6061 for framing, 5052 for cosmetics.

Would 4043 or 5356 be a better filler rod for this application?

I've read that 4043 is less prone to cold cracking on 6061, but 5356 has better strength and ductility than 4043. It won't be subjected to constant temps above 150F, which is not good for 5356. It also won't be anodized, so color match isn't an issue.

Sounds like either would be fine as the filler is stronger than the HAZ of each joint. Just not sure on what's best for a deer-smashing bumper application. 5356 maybe since shear strength would be the biggest issue?

Well I posted months ago looking for tips as I was tackling building my own exhaust. I finally finished so I figured I'd post back some photos. I got some good advice here and elsewhere and certainly learned a lot in the process of making it. I feel very comfortable with stainless now. Anyway, here's a couple of shots of the final product.

I like that last one as it shows the first header flange I cooked which prompted me to go on a mission to learn how to weld stainless better and then on the right is the last header flange I made which I think sums up my learning curve.

There's more photos in my build thread but I feel like the bike is "finished" for the moment. My fancy pants X pipe didn't work as well as my H pipe (H = 1hp gain) so I'll have to remake that as the H was only done as a test. Still, I learned a lot in making the whole thing and the bike runs great making some kick ass torque. Quite happy.

I know those things...still, every welding company sells a regulator that has a flow gauge on the output side, instead of a pressure gauge. I know how those flow gauges work...they are actually pressure regulators that estimate flow by measuring pressure on two sides of a calibrated orifice. It's a flow *estimate* and it's good enough for home garage MIG welding.

My question is whether I can install this flow-estimating gauge on my existing regulator.

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I don't know squat about MIG or TIG welding - just bought my first TIG outfit and haven't yet struck an arc. Here's a pic, however, of the output-side gauge of the Victor AF210-580 flow meter that came with the welder.

Note that it's marked with an orifice size, in this case .032 of an inch. I did some reading after I opened the box and found a dual-gauge regulator rather than the expected floating-ball type of flow meter. Seems that the orifice size is paired with gas type to give a certain flow at a given pressure. Where's the orifice? With this regulator it appears to be in the outlet fitting, but your's might be different.

David R's advice sounds pretty good to me - fiddle with it until you get decent welds and call it a day.

But again, take what I'm saying with a grain of salt 'cause I don't even rate as a n00b at this point.

Lexleroy, Everyday you own a new tig welder and do not use it is a sin.

I like your regulator. It must be made by a company that sells gas.

I use 15 cfh for mig or tig and usually its plenty. There are times I use more like with Aluminum tig. Other times I Can use less especially with a 3/8 (#6) gas cup mig or tig.

This does not make me right. My Harris Flow regulator with a ball and glass says its calibrated for a .050" orifice. No need to ever change it or even see it. As long as you get the proper amount of shielding.

My first Mig was a Lincoln SP100 in about 1985. It came with a fixed 35 cfh regulator. I burned through an 80 cf bottle in the first day. I exchanged the regulator for an adjustable one when I got the tank filled. I still have that regulator.

Lexleroy, Everyday you own a new tig welder and do not use it is a sin.

David

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Tell me about it. I'm holding the new TIG, a Thermal Arc 185 Arcmaster, over my own head as an incentive to finish the bicycle that I started for my daughter. I'm down to the final braze-ons and bridges between the stays, but I got distracted this summer with my dirt bike. The poor V-Strom also suffered some serious neglect as well.

Here's the daughter's bike so far - brass fillet brazing for some of the lugs and then silver brazing the lugs to the tubes. The thing behind the bike is the frame fixture that I built to hold all of the pieces together for pinning and brazing.

And here's two of the home-made fillet brazed lugs, shown with a production investment cast lug, prior to being silver brazed into the bike.

Brazing with oxy-fuel is fun but I'm pretty stoked about learning TIG... looking forward to lots more conversations in this thread.

So you remember those oxy-fuel cylinders I came across a couple months ago? Yeah- I also scored two sets of portables, cheap.

I hae been an oxy-acetylene cutting FOOL over the last month. Trying to figure out brazing now- I blew through an oilpan I was trying to braze a fitting onto. I think I should have used a welding tip, not the cutting head (duh!). To my credit, I didn't activate the cutting jet.

I still have to go get the big bottles filled. That's going to be a pain in the ass- local shops won't fill them if you don't have a pickup bed to put them in.

Did the gent that was trying to use a pressure reg on a Lincoln 3200HD ever get the code broken on settings and such? I would like to give gas-MIG another shot.

I'm looking for technique tips on welding mild steel pipes together. I found this YouTube vid that seems to make a lot of sense to me, at my skill level. Rather than try to lay a bead, the guy makes a series of tack welds around the tube. This strikes me as a way to really control what I'm doing.

I hae been an oxy-acetylene cutting FOOL over the last month. Trying to figure out brazing now- I blew through an oilpan I was trying to braze a fitting onto. I think I should have used a welding tip, not the cutting head (duh!). To my credit, I didn't activate the cutting jet.

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Flux is your friend. When it turns glassy w/ no bubbles then it's hot enough to melt the filler metal - too much heat and you roach your flux. Use a flux that wets out at the right temp for your filler. For bronze or nickel silver I use Gasflux type "B" - similar to Harris #17 (that blue paste stuff).

I'm looking for technique tips on welding mild steel pipes together. I found this YouTube vid that seems to make a lot of sense to me, at my skill level. Rather than try to lay a bead, the guy makes a series of tack welds around the tube. This strikes me as a way to really control what I'm doing.

A true tack weld is made to break off if needed or hold things in position to be welded.

A series of tacks would be a series of welds made to break off.

I weld exhaust with an SP100 turned down C 3 .
I start at the top and make my way down. One pass each side.
Make a dry pass to see where the gun will fit if its on the car.

David

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David:
A 'tack' also needs to be strong enough to hold the parts in alignment and withstand the pressure of coaxing the rest of the weldment into alignment. And withstand the stresses of welding once the fit-up is complete.

This will work fine, it's how I built the exhaust on my Jeep. Butt-welded tubes and short tacks. It's been bounced off of rocks and, while the tube has been squashed in areas, the welds have NOT failed.

What I am trying to say is learn the machine. Set it so you can run a bead. It is the right welder for the job. .023 ER70S-6 wire and c/25 gas. I do a lot of exhaust.
If its too hot and you continually have to stop then turn the machine down. If you are almost blowing through then the heat is right.

David:
A 'tack' also needs to be strong enough to hold the parts in alignment and withstand the pressure of coaxing the rest of the weldment into alignment. And withstand the stresses of welding once the fit-up is complete.

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eh, don't confuse the two. You tack pieces together and give them a smack, maybe too. But a third or fourth time or too much movement and your pieces are going to be laying on the ground.

In other words, tacks hold together only when subjected to a small force. And when the gap isn't right, the fitter will simply break the tack and have the welder start over.

It's fine for exhaust, don't weld a roll cage like that or anything your life depends on. We call that WyoWelding(Wyotech teaches that and it's technically wrong), the weakest part of a weld is the start when it's the coldest and that technique gives you a full weld of cold starts...wrong, but fine for exhaust.